CEREMONIAL MAGIC

Ceremonial magic is the most familiar type of magic to those in the West. Practitioners use rituals and invocations to tap into uncanny powers. Some believed they were contacting spirits to do their bidding, while others thought that their ceremonial magic was a sort of language that allowed them to command the universe.

The origins of ceremonial magic may be written deep into our nature. Even animals can create their own simple rituals. When given treats at the same time each day, an animal may repeat whatever actions they had been performing just before the first snack fell. Though all the following feedings would happen whatever the animals did, the animals act as if their behaviour was the cause.